Technique and methods

Hi all! Alan has talked a lot about keeping tonus in hand and fingers to maintain sceletal power in playing. Resently I've been thinking a lot about pianist's back and its support for arms and hands. To me it's more ob...

Asked by hadarmo2

Latest in Q&A with Alan Fraser series.

Hi, I've read so many good things about Tai Chi and its effects on human well being and health. Having some problems (like stiff shoulders) I've been seriously thinking about Tai Chi as my new way of physical training....

Alan, I'm suddenly starting to hold a lot of tension in my neck. It feels tight and unpleasant. This is not tension that is coming from lack of function in my hand/arm. Rather, it seems to me that the tension starts i...

Recently, I went over to the home of a local concert pianist to rehearse some music for his church. Rather than playing piano, he will be singing this week, with me as his accompanist. First off, this guy sits with a...

I'm tremendously excited about all the uses I've been finding for the bird beak - from Albeniz's Leyenda to groovy funk rhythms. I especially like repeating one note continuously alternating Left and Right hands and shif...

I do not understand what is going on this year my right hand started feeling like it was constantly tired after practicing and my sound was coming out as if it were forced. I was under ALOT of nervous tension and I am wo...

This is directed mostly towards Alan and I was going to send it as a personal message, but I decided that it might be useful for other people and that any other feedback would be helpful for me. Alan, In Bonn you s...

As I was practicing today I noticed a strange thing: both of my hands are quite unstable in the sense that for each finger action there is a tiny "hop" which makes the whole structure jump away from the keyboard. It's no...

Recently I've been utilising the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais Method to explore the causes of a potential pianistic injury that I'm intending to avoid. The more I've explored the more the issue seems to be with my...

So, I've been spending some time reading and working through various parts of All Thumbs. The chapter that has caught my attention (even more than the rest!) is Chapter 14: A Little Anatomy. While all the information con...

I enjoyed our lessons during your visit to New York. You corrected a misunderstanding I had about bone alignment. When I read about Liszt's Bicycle Spokes Exercise I tried it on a table top. I lined up a finger stra...

Alan, I love the palming that you showed me. You encouraged me to get my palms right down on the keys and allow myself to enjoy feeling them. I've watched Horowitz's last concert in Moscow probably a thousand times, but...

I've just completed a new post on finger activities: I don't think any of it will exactly cause any raised-eyebrows (at least not for anyone who's familiar with Alan's writings) but it contains a simple approach t...

Hello hello, I'm trying to develop my fast passagework, and revisited Alan's DVD (plus got a lesson from the amazing pianist Taylor Eigsti). my understanding is to try and work the finger as much as possible, healthily,...

HELLO ALAN, I wanted to thank you for your videos and answers they are extremely helpfull! I saw in one of the videos about the octaves playing-you suggested that there should be some activity of the fingers,demonstrati...

New Q&A with Alan - Episode 11 - Today on PianoTechnique.org asked by: semiquaver

Just been experimenting lately with Alan's idea of starting finger movement before the key is going. In association with the extension style of action, I've been getting major benefits from this. Anyway,just want to run...

Before I start, I'd like to ask your attention for a performance by Robert Helps of the Chopin Piano Sonata #2. Helps was a pianist and composer, and also one of the most distinguished pupils of Abby Whiteside. He was ce...

Here's an interesting discovery I made about myself earlier today. When I improvise freely (i.e. not based around a set form), the techniques and freedom of movement that I have been working on elsewhere tend to manifest...

Alan, I want to tell you about some benefits I've had from working on your Rearing Horse exercise for drilling thumb motions. You emphasized this exercise in our lessons and I've been working on it a lot. I'm sure you...